1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to food boxes generally, and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to cereal boxes, to a system and method for achieving either of, or both of, the two following purposes: first, for collecting the debris and small crumbs of brittle boxed foods in the base of the food packaging, thereby separating such debris from the remainder of the whole pieces of the boxed food; and second, to provide a means to facilitate and ease the opening of the sealed plastic/cellophane/other packaging material within the outer cardboard box.
2. Background Art.
Dried foods packed in sealed plastic bags, housed inside rigid cardboard boxes, such as cereal and potato chips, are prone to crumble and disintegrate during manufacture, packaging, storage and transport of the food within the plastic bag. The general result of this crumbling process is a collection of crumbs, powder and debris, ranging in size from small particles to fine dust, that, over time, gravity forces to congregate at the base of the food product's upright-stored packaging box. This debris can contaminate the remaining portions of the whole pieces of food product when the food product is poured from the box for consumption, particularly when the box of food materials is nearly empty.
Another common characteristic of present conventional plastic packaging systems is that the sealed inner plastic bag is very difficult to open, as the seal of the plastic bag must typically be opened by grasping with difficulty the inner plastic bag and then either ripping or tearing the sealed sheets apart without effective hand-grips, or by cutting the packaging bag using a sharp implement.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to provide a system and method for collecting and segregating this debris from the corpus of the whole pieces in the packaged food product for disposal or other use.
It is a second principle object of this invention to provide a system and method to facilitate and ease the consumer's necessary act of breaking by hand the plastic packaging system's hermetic seal when opening the plastic food bag for the first time.
It is further the object of this invention to be designed and implemented in such a manner that the customary hermetic seal of the box's inner plastic, cellophane, or other synthetic seal, used to insulate and protect the food from outside contaminants, is maintained.
It is another object of the invention to provide such system that can be economically constructed.
It is another object of the invention to provide such system that can be retrofitted, to the maximum extent practicable, to existing standard boxed food-packaging systems.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.